We do not know when Meir Ezofovich was born. Only the date of his death is known; he died presumably in 1529. At the same time, Sigismund II Augustus became the king of Poland with the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Archives of various kinds indicate that Ezofovich was from Kiev and was one of the most distinguished merchants and tenants of his time. He spent most of his life in Brest-Litovsk. After being baptized, his brother Abraham became the mayor of Minsk and the starost of Smolensk, and in 1490 he was appointed the treasurer of Lithuania. He was baptized with the name Jan.

Business talents led Ezofovich first to the court of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, and then to the court of two Polish kings – Alexander Jagiellon (1501-1506) and Sigismund the Old (1507-1548). As King Sigismund the Old ruled for 41 years, it can be said that a talented merchant owed his career to this ruler.

In 1507, King Sigismund the Old decided to settle the Jewish issue in the state. In order to prevent anti-Jewish riots, he imposed heavy fines and bailouts on cities for such acts of violence against Jews. He established the rule that half of the money from the punishment was received by the aggrieved Jews and the other half by the state treasury. It was also forbidden to accuse the Jewish population of ritual murders or profaning the host.

Acting in favorable conditions for the Jews, Ezofovich, as a Jewish broker, granted the king loans, and in return he leased and administered customs chambers in Brest, and from 1508 also in Volhynia and Podlasie. A few years later his position was strengthened – he became a Jewish tax collector in Lithuania.

This decision, however, aroused opposition from Jewish religious communities in Lithuania defending their autonomy and independence. The protest took effect and the would-be collector had to resign.

However, soon in 1514, Ezofovich was accepted by the Smolensk voivode Jan Hlebovich to the Leliwa coat of arms for his merits, and after the death of his brother, he assumed Jan’s previous duties. The voivode strengthened his position so much that in 1525 the outstanding merchant became a leaseholder of all customs duties in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with the exception of the Kaunas district.

He had numerous and frequent contacts with the Polish elite, granting loans to the most eminent Lithuanian families and relatives. He received the title of nobility, although he did not change his religion, as his brother Jan did. Historians claim that this decision was an exceptional event in the whole history of Poland.